By Olukayode Babalola
Mrs Faustina Alegbe, the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Nasarawa, says the command’s goal is to achieve total compliance on the use of speed limit device by commercial drivers in the state.
Alegbe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lafia that though there was initial reluctance by members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and some commercial drivers, steady progress was being made.
She said: “Rome was not built in a day. Initially, some of them were adamant and did not get the device.
“ I can tell you now that with the enforcement in place, a lot of them are gradually accepting that having the device is a must.
“The NURTW, commercial drivers and the FRSC are partners in progress and many of them have now realised that.
“The initiative is in their best interest. Our goal is to continue to cajole and convince them to buy and install the device.
“With the rains here, motorists are prone to more accidents because speeding on wet asphalt is dangerous but with good tyres and a working speed limiter, a lot of crashes will be averted.”
Alegbe further said that the just concluded fourth United Nations Global Road Safety Week, which began on May 8 and ended May 14, was a huge success.
She said the one-week programme enabled the command to enlighten residents on the dangers of speeding.
“We achieved a lot during the UN Global Safety Week.
“We paid advocacy visits to the Ministries of Justice, Works, Environment and donated items to patients at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH) here in Lafia.
“Apart from that, we held a huge rally at the motor park with a lot of commercial drivers in attendance and who contributed to the discourse on speeding.
“We also visited mosques and churches. I can tell you, we got a lot of people and they all listened to us during the week,’’ she said.
She, however, appealed to drivers to take extra precaution during the rainy season by ensuring that they use good tyres.
